Season 14, Episode 18: Weekly Roundup + Flashback (Extraction Specialist)
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Izzet mages around the world were stunned this week by the sudden banning of Expressive Iteration. Expressive Iteration! The most beautiful, most wonderful, most beloved child of spellslingers and value lovers everywhere. Who could have foreseen this? How can we possibly replace you?
Also banned in Pioneer this week: Winota, Joiner of Forces. What began on Arena Explorer has made its way to tabletop. “Frustrating removal-check gameplay” now seems to have a target on its back.
Were these good bans? Justified bans? Or terrible, rotten, horrible, no good, very bad bans? Cavedan and Morde break it all down in today’s Faithless Brewing, with an assist from David who has peered into the future of the Pioneer format and drawn up a new tier list.
On the Flashback, we put Extraction Specialist through its paces in three different decks in Modern and Pioneer. The card delivered on its promise, but was it enough to rescue optimistic brews from yet another 3-2 result? Tune in to find out.
S14E18 Timestamps
[2:51] Housekeeping
Roundup: News of the Week
[5:21] Analyzing the Pioneer B&R
[7:52] Winota: Good ban or bad ban?
[13:14] Expressive Iteration: Good ban or bad ban?
[24:23] Predictions: the future of the Pioneer meta
[36:39] A new Pioneer tier list
[38:29] Health check: the state of Modern
[42:00] More bans coming soon?
Flashback: Extraction Specialist
[44:05] Emi’s Esper Hatebears w/ Dark Confidant
[51:58] David’s Esper Raffine Bears 2.1
[56:13] Dan’s Orzhov Coveted Prize
[1:03:10] PSA: MTGO All Access
